EU lawmakers back rules forcing Big Tech to tackle child pornography

FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed logo of Facebook parent Meta Platforms is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to draft rules requiring Alphabet's Google, Meta and other online services to identify and remove online child pornography, saying that end-to-end encryption would not be affected.

The draft rule on child sexual abuse material (CSAM), proposed by the European Commission last year, has been a bone of contention between advocates of online safety measures and privacy activists worried about surveillance.